User manual

A.3 Bluetooth Virtual Sniffing
A.3.1 Introduction
The ComProbe software Virtual sniffing function simplifiesBluetooth® development and is easy to use. Frontline’s
Virtual sniffing with Live Import provides the developer with an open interface from any application to ComProbe
software so that data can be analyzed and processed independent of sniffing hardware. Virtual sniffing can also
add value to other Bluetooth development tools such as Bluetooth stack SDKs (Software Development Kits) and
Bluetooth chip development kits.
This white paper discusses:
l Why HCI sniffing and Virtual sniffing are useful.
l Bluetooth sniffing history.
l What is Virtual sniffing?
l Why Virtual sniffing is convenient and reliable.
l How Virtual sniffing works.
l Virtual sniffing and Bluetooth stack vendors.
l Case studies: Virtual sniffing and Bluetooth mobile phone makers.
l Virtual sniffing and you. • Where to go for more information.
A.3.2 Why HCI Sniffing and Virtual Sniffing are Useful
Because the Bluetooth protocol stack is very complex, a Bluetooth protocol analyzer is an important part of all
Bluetooth development environments. The typical Bluetooth protocol analyzer “taps” a Bluetooth link by capturing
data over the air. For many Bluetooth developers sniffing the link between a Bluetooth Host CPU and a Bluetooth
Host Controller—also known as HCI-sniffing—is much more useful than air sniffing.
HCI-sniffing provides direct visibility into the commands being sent to a Bluetooth chip and the responses to those
commands. With air sniffing a software engineer working on the host side of a Bluetooth chip has to infer and
often guess at what their software is doing. With HCI-sniffing, the software engineer can see exactly what is going
on. HCI-sniffing often results in faster and easier debugging than air sniffing.
Frontline BPA low energy Hardware & Software User Manual 228